About me

Hello! I'm Julie, grower of all things organic, including three kids. I'm a Master Gardener, heirloom specialist, owner of Garden Delights, and lover of all things garden and nature-related. I write the blog Garden Delights, a chronicle of growing gardens, growing green, growing locavores, growing kids, and growing one day at a time.

It's September. And I swear, South Carolina is hotter now than in July. Yesterday, as I sprinted from the car to the grocery store through a downpour, I thought, ”Well, at least it will be a little cooler when this nasty weather lets up.” Instead, as I exited Publix, I hit a wall of heat and humidity so dense that I could barely breathe.

Seriously. I gasped for breath while loading bags into the car. And my hair looked lovely from the rain and humidity.

So, although it's hard to get excited about planting a fall garden in a sauna, I'm forging ahead.

Seeds that I planted last week are sprouting, but I'm a bit concerned about the lettuce. While I placed the trays of seeds on a shady greenhouse shelf, I fear that the intense heat cooked the seeds. I've moved the trays out of the greenhouse and plan to watch them for a few days, because lettuce sprouts pretty quickly. Otherwise, it's back to the trays to reseed. All ten varieties.

Yeesh.

Whether your fall garden will include seeds you started using

this guide

, or if you decide to purchase transplants or direct seed, you need a plan.

How will you organize your garden? And how will you prevent pests from snacking on your crops?

Why, you'll embrace companion planting, of course.

Many people think of organic gardening as simply the avoidance of chemicals—or the use of OMRI approved chemicals—in the garden. However, companion planting is a main premise in organic gardening.

Companion planting involves growing different species of plants together to benefit one or both. Rather than planting a monoculture, mixed plantings attract beneficial insects, deter pests, and boost soil health to produce better harvests.

For instance, aromatic herbs like rosemary mask the scent of a crop from pests. Some plants, like mint, produce odors that deter or confuse pests. Other plants, like parsley, serve as a trap crop, drawing insects away from the main crop. Strategic companion planting can aid in pollination, with plants providing food to sustain beneficial insects. Companion plants can also create a habitat for predatory insects that feed on pests.

I often use companion planting in the spring and summer gardens, and probably one of the most widely-known pairings is basil grown with tomatoes. This summer, though, I tried a new companion planting: icicle radishes planted among squash to combat squash vine borers. After losing all of the squash plants last year, I was skeptical.

Guess what? I'm still harvesting squash.

Needless to say, I'm a believer in companion planting!

Based on the summer success, I'm planning our fall gardens to include companions. Cool weather crops can benefit from strategic, well-designed companion plantings, particularly as many of the cool crops belong to the same family: brassica.

And cabbage worms love brassica.

Cabbage worms are sneaky. And destructive. And very difficult to locate. Companion plantings help deter these nasty creatures. (But still, we need to be vigilant. Check the undersides of leaves and stems regularly.)

To save you a bit of time when planning your fall garden, I've compiled a list of cool weather crops and good companions to plant along with them: